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Member's Forum How to control a remote using a smart phone
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  • remote monitoring and control
  • Smart Phone
Related

How to control a remote using a smart phone

colporteur
colporteur over 1 year ago

image

I am looking for suggestions from E14 community members on how to control a remote using a smart phone.

I'm confident someone here has attempted this and actually got it working. I want to use that knowledge. I've combed the internet and found a number of solutions. I want to avoid the rabbit warrens of getting them to work. I'm looking to leverage the community knowledge because you have done it.

The project premise is to connect a smart phone to a controller that actions a remote. My starting point is: how to turn the remote on and off using the smart phone. I use smart phone because I want to keep it broad. It might be an Android or an iphone. I have the latter but my wife has the other. The controller technology is open. I am hoping to use an Arduino of some sort but a single board computer is not out of the solution. The remote in this example is an on/off but maybe it can provide feedback.

This project is for personal use and not to develop a commercial product. There is a limited budget. I'm looking for a cost effective solution not necessarily the cheapest solution. My knowledge level in phone communication is limited. In my project more than one person will be connecting. I've never create a phone app and really don't want to go there. What is simple way of accomplishing that with a phone. I'm not a programmer by training. I've have some skills but would never label myself a programmer.

I'm looking to build a simple solution on the workbench and maybe learn some stuff along the way. I'm looking for suggestions that you know works. Either you have done it yourself or have seen it done and know it works. 

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Top Replies

  • michaelkellett
    michaelkellett over 1 year ago +2
    What is the remote device ? There is a world of difference between switching a power relay on and off and taking control of (for example) a remote TV controller. MK
  • shabaz
    shabaz over 1 year ago in reply to colporteur +2
    Hm, that's suddenly increased the complexity greatly, when you mention that many different drivers need access. The complexity will depend on how much security is required. Your need is actually a complete…
  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave over 1 year ago +2
    colporteur said: I've never create a phone app and really don't want to go there. What is simple way of accomplishing that with a phone. One way to avoid writing a custom app would be to use the device…
Parents
  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave over 1 year ago
    colporteur said:
    I've never create a phone app and really don't want to go there. What is simple way of accomplishing that with a phone.

    One way to avoid writing a custom app would be to use the device's web browser.

    Another way might be to use the phone so as you dial the remote device's phone number and send DTMF tones or use SMS messaging.

    Suggestions for bedtime reading:

    GSM/GPRS Projects by Dogan Ibrahim, Ahmet Ibrahim
    https://www.elektor.com/products/gsm-gprs-projects-e-book

    Making Things Talk, (3rd Edition) by Tom Igoe
    https://www.makershed.com/products/making-things-talk-third-edition

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  • md_steve
    md_steve over 1 year ago in reply to beacon_dave

    Back in the days of Raspberry Pi 2, I used one to detect the wifi router in my wife's car as she approached the house and send me a text so I could help her bring in the groceries. (OK, I was bored that year.) I found that the Pi picked her up five or six houses away, but by the time a text got to my phone she was parked and juggling bags already. Our dog was faster than the network-to-text conversion time. Perhaps I should have built an app that used the phone's wifi to sense her approach. Next time?

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  • electronicbiker
    electronicbiker over 1 year ago in reply to md_steve

    You could train the dog to sit by the front door and react somehow when your wife was five or six houses away. If you trained your dog to recognise vehicles owned by friends, relatives, etc, you wouldn't need any clouds or wi-fi's, your dog would make different noises to tell you who it was. You could call those noises Bark Codes, mwah-ha-haha...

    Seriously though, we had a pet dog called Rex when me and my siblings were young, about 50 years ago. From his actions and responses we saw that he could recognise my 1959 Triumph 500cc Speed Twin approaching from about a mile and a half away, from inside the house, and when the nearby main road was full of rush-hour traffic creating lots of background noise. This happened every time I went home from University for a weekend or a national holiday so we knew it wasn't just coincidence. About three years later he was recognising my brother's 150cc BSA Bantam from afar too. Rex was a marvellous dog, we don't give our animals nearly enough credit for how clever they are.

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  • electronicbiker
    electronicbiker over 1 year ago in reply to md_steve

    You could train the dog to sit by the front door and react somehow when your wife was five or six houses away. If you trained your dog to recognise vehicles owned by friends, relatives, etc, you wouldn't need any clouds or wi-fi's, your dog would make different noises to tell you who it was. You could call those noises Bark Codes, mwah-ha-haha...

    Seriously though, we had a pet dog called Rex when me and my siblings were young, about 50 years ago. From his actions and responses we saw that he could recognise my 1959 Triumph 500cc Speed Twin approaching from about a mile and a half away, from inside the house, and when the nearby main road was full of rush-hour traffic creating lots of background noise. This happened every time I went home from University for a weekend or a national holiday so we knew it wasn't just coincidence. About three years later he was recognising my brother's 150cc BSA Bantam from afar too. Rex was a marvellous dog, we don't give our animals nearly enough credit for how clever they are.

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